This invention relates to a machine tool. More particularly, the invention relates to a lathe.
According to the invention, there is provided a lathe which includes
a support structure including a support post and a carriage slidably supported on the support post:
a magazine for holding at least one workpiece, the magazine being rotatably supported by the carriage of the support structure and being mounted on the support structure such that said at least one workpiece is arranged substantially vertically when a machining operation is performed on said at least one workpiece: and
at least one workstation, having at least one working tool, mounted on the support structure such that a working tool engages an end of said workpiece to perform the machining operation while said workpiece is maintained in its vertical orientation.
The carriage may be slidable with respect to the support post such that an operative end of the magazine, ie. that end of the magazine in proximity to the workstations, can be moved out of engagement with a drive member and the magazine pivoted to lie substantially horizontally for facilitating reloading of the magazine.
The support post may be mounted on a base plate and a housing may be arranged on the base plate adjacent the support post. The housing may include a drive mechanism, coolant reservoirs, etc.
A workstation head may be mounted on the housing, the workstation head defining the, or each, workstation. The workstation head may be displaceably arranged on the housing. Firstly, the head may be rotatably displaceable with respect to the housing to facilitate the indexing of the workstations. Secondly, the workstation head may be vertically displaceable with respect to the housing along a longitudinal axis of the magazine.
The lathe may include a control means arranged intermediate the workstation head and an end of the magazine closer to the workstation head for controlling feeding of the, or each, workpiece to its associated workstation.
The control means may include a gripping means for releasably gripping the, or each, workpiece and a rotating means for rotatably driving the, or each, workpiece to enable the machining operation to be performed on the, or each, workpiece. The control means may further include a release means for enabling the workpieces to be released from the gripping means.
The gripping means may include a collet for releasably gripping each workpiece to be machined. Each collet may be mounted fast with a planetary gear. Each planetary gear may, in turn, be rotatably driven by a sun gear which is rotated via the drive motor housed in the housing. Thus, the rotating means may comprise the sun gear and the plurality of planetary gears. The release means may be a pneumatic diaphragm housed atop the collets or an electromagnetic system.
A plurality of working tools may be accommodated in said at least one workstation, said workstation being indexable relative to the magazine such that various machining operations can be sequentially carried out on a workpiece associated with said workstation.
Preferably, the magazine is a multi-spindle magazine which is able to hold a number of operative workpieces. Further, the lathe may include a plurality of workstations, one associated with each operative workpiece, so that the machining operation can be performed on each of the operative workpieces simultaneously. The magazine may be configured to hold spare workpieces in addition to each operative workpiece. By xe2x80x9coperative workpiecesxe2x80x9d is meant those workpieces on which machining operations are being, or are to be, carried out. Then by xe2x80x9cspare workpiecesxe2x80x9d is meant that while certain workpieces, the operative workpieces, are having machining operations carried out thereon, other workpieces, being the spare workpieces, are held in reserve adjacent their associated operative workpiece for subsequent machining operations without the need for constant supervision to reload the magazine.
As described above, each workstation may include a plurality of working tools. Thus, for example, each workstation may have a parting tool, a turning tool, a screw-cutting tool, a boring tool and a plurality of drilling tools. Those skilled in the art will, however, appreciate that the actual arrangement of tools selected will be dependent on the machining operations to be carried out on the various workpieces. However, each workstation will have the same selection of working tools.
The lathe may be computer controlled. Accordingly, a control cabinet may house control circuitry which controls operation of the lathe, in use.